"But Ah'm supposed ta help Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle build a ramp for our daredevil cutie marks this afternoon!" Apple Bloom pled.
"No 'buts' Apple Bloom, we all gotta pitch in and help make dinner, and ten layers ain't gonna cook themselves," Applejack replied, not giving an inch to her sister's pouting. It may have worked on Mac, but not her.
"Can't Ah please just—"
"Ah'm only askin' ya to do this one thing. Maybe your friends can help you, then you can get it done faster and get back to that ramp thing you were talkin' about."
The filly sighed. She knew there was no changing her sisters mind once it was made up. "Alright, fine..." she moaned.
"That's my girl." Applejack smiled, mussing her mane much to Apple Blooms annoyance. "There's some bits on the table, and tell Mr. Fungi we said hello."
"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled, taking the bits into her saddlebag and heading out the door to where Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are waiting.
"Well? Can you help us or not?" Scootaloo asked.
"No, my sister is making me go buy mushrooms for the stupid casserole. I don't even like the darn thing!" she whined.
"Mushrooms? Bleh," Scootaloo said as Sweetie Belle agreed.
"Why would anypony eat something that grows out of poop?" Sweetie asked, before Scootaloo had another one of her brilliant ideas.
"Wait, why don't we go with you! Maybe mushroom collecting is one of our talents!" she said hopefully.
While Apple Bloom wasn't crazy about mushroom picking being her special talent, having some company would certainly help pass the time.
"Okay, let's go," she sighed.
The trio set off into town, sharing a mild annoyance at having their crusading put on hold. Had Scootaloo's scooter not been being repaired from the nasty spill it took into the river on a recent camping trip, they'd have gotten done much faster, a fact Apple Bloom was quick to remind her.
"Ah can't believe your scooter ended up in the river,"
"You weren't being chased by the Olden Pony!" Scootaloo said defensively.
"Neither were you!" Sweetie Belle replied.
Scootaloo paused before mumbling a weak defense.
They finally arrived in town, nearly half of their journey complete. "Ah don't see why Mr. Fungi doesn't sell his mushrooms in town," Apple Bloom lamented.
"Psst!"
Sweetie Belle stopped, perking up her ears. "Did you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"PSST!"
The fillies turned toward an alleyway, where a teenage pony in a leather jacket was trying to attract their attention.
"I think that pony wants us to come over there," Scootaloo said, taking a step towards him.
"Scootaloo! We shouldn't talk to strangers!" Sweetie Belle pled.
Ignoring her warnings, Scootaloo took a step toward him. "What?" she snapped, mustering all her toughness to show this pony she was not a filly to be messed with.
"You girls looking for mushrooms?"
"What's it to you?" Scootaloo shot back. She'd perfected her tough girl act since the camping trip with Rainbow and her friend's sisters.
"I just thought you girls might appreciate not having to walk all the way to old stallion Fungi's farm."
Apple Bloom followed Scootaloo, though they remained safely outside the alley.
"Hey, weren't you that colt in my sister's class that left school before graduating?" she asked.
"Yeah, what of it?" he said defensively. "You want the mushrooms or not?"
Apple Bloom paused to consider her options. Mushrooms were mushrooms, right? Where they came from didn't really matter, did it?
"How much?" she asked.
"How much you got?"
Ever the savvy businessmare, Apple Bloom told him she had half the money she actually had.
"Fine, here ya go," he said, handing her a baggy full of fresh mushrooms, with a long white stem and a brownish cap. "You know how to use them?" he asked.
Scootaloo scoffed, "There are ponies that don't?"
"Alright, now beat it."
As the fillies walked back toward Sweetie Belle with their purchase, they berated her for not wanting to cut their trip time in half. "See? Sometimes strangers can be helpful!" Scootaloo said as Apple Bloom put the mushrooms in her saddle bag.
"Those don't look like regular mushrooms..." Sweetie said cautiously, only to be brushed off by Apple Bloom.
"C'mon, mushrooms are mushrooms! We ain't gonna be eatin' them anyway, and now we can get our daredevil cutie marks!"
The fillies made their way back to the farm, in record time, eager to continue their crusade.
"We'll meet you at the club house, Apple Bloom!" Sweetie and Scootaloo said as Apple Bloom ran inside to drop off her purchase.
"Well, that was quick!" Applejack smiled as she gave the rest of the bits back to her sister.
"Yeah, and I got 'em for half price!" she said proudly.
"Really? You may get a bargaining cutie mark yet!" Applejack beamed. "We're still a bit behind, would you mind choppin' them up for me?"
Apple Bloom's mouth fell open. "But you said all Ah had to do was go buy them!"
"Now Apple Bloom, it'll just take a second, then you can go back to playin' with your friends 'till supper time."
She let out a frustrated groan before hanging her head and heading into the kitchen.
"Gosh darn mushrooms... how come Ah have ta do this? There are such thing as foal labor laws ya know!" she called to her sister from the kitchen.
"Less whinin', more choppin' Apple Bloom!" she yelled back as she set the table with the finest china the Apples had available.
A small mumble of defiance came from the kitchen as Apple Bloom took a knife in her mouth and began chopping.
In a few minutes, the mushrooms were chopped and set aside. "Ah'm done!"
"Alright, just leave 'em on the counter and keep an ear out for the dinner bell!" Applejack said as her littlest sister bounded out the front door.
In a few hours, the Elements of Harmony joined the Apple family just as the sun began its descent. Since the meal took almost all day to prepare, it was generally eaten as soon as it was ready. Granny Smith had made grilled cheese sandwiches for the fillies, and a bowl of gems for Spike, who were unanimously disgusted by the ten layer monster the rest of them would be eating, but they were certainly alone in that opinion.
"It smells so good in here!" Rainbow complimented, taking a her seat at the table.
"I'll say!" Twilight said as Spike hopped off her back to sit at the kids table with the crusaders.
Once everypony was seated, Granny Smith stood from her seat at the head of the table.
"Granny Smith, you simply must tell me where you got such lovely flatware!" Rarity said, admiring her reflection in the silver of her spoon.
"Ya can't get things like this anywhere but th' motherland of all th' earth ponies," she said proudly. "Now, we gather our friends together with the blessings of Celestia and Luna to take stock in what we have," she began, explaining the meaning behind the feast. "I was just a filly when our boys beat back the fascist invaders of the Griffon Empire at the siege of Stalliongrad. The city lay ruined, and my family came to Equestria, after the princess annexed Stalliongrad into the kingdom to prevent such violence from repeatin' itself. Our first year in Ponyville, we didn't have much, but we decided to feed those who had helped us so much with what little we had. Now that times are better, we do this ta remember of those hard times, and those who died so that we could live here." She raised her glass, as did the rest of the table. Granny gave a toast in her native earth pony tongue, only echoed by the other Apples.
Everypony dug in, very little conversation going on as everpony was enjoying the meal most of them looked forward to every year. In fact, Rainbow Dash hadn't eaten anything all day in preparation.
"Granny Smith, this is amazing, tasty, delicious, fundiferous and scrumptious all in one!" Pinkie cheered with her mouth full and going back for seconds, as did most everypony.
The sun began to grow larger as it approached the horizon, covering the fields with long shadows. Everyone at the table sat back from their seats, stuffed to the rafters with the massive meal they'd just eaten.
"I don't know how, but Ah swear that casserole tastes better every year," Applejack said, patting her stomach.
"Eeyup," Mac agreed.
After a few minutes of idle chit chat, most decided it was time for them to be heading home. Rarity had an order to fill the next day, Rainbow had to be up to lead the weather patrol, and Fluttershy and Twilight were going to study the population of the non-sentient deer in the forest. However, Twilight decided to hang around to help clean up, if only to give Spike some time to play with somepony his own age. He rarely got to do the things an pre-adolscent dragon should get to do.
Spike and Apple Bloom went upstairs to her room while Twilight helped Mac and Applejack clear and clean the table.
"You know ya don't have ta do this, Twi." Applejack said softly.
"It's not a problem Applejack, I don't mind." She smiled, carrying a load of plates with her magic. She glanced over to the light above the table and noticed something... peculiar. It seemed to have a halo around it. Twilight knew how such optical phenomenon formed in the upper atmosphere (ice crystals), but she was certain there weren't any ice crystals in Applejack's dining room.
Then things got weird.
